Fruit Exposes the Real Heart

33 “Either make the tree good and its fruit good, or make the tree bad and its fruit bad, for the tree is known by its fruit.

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The Bible tells us there are real signs that we can see as evidence in someones life if they are truly connected to Christ. Fruit is the evidence one may expect from a life where the Spirit of God is living and reigning (as discussed in our rooted series we must see Jesus as the Lord/king)

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Fruit is to be observed

15 “Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves. 16 You will recognize them by their fruits. Are grapes gathered from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? 17 So, every healthy tree bears good fruit, but the diseased tree bears bad fruit. 18 A healthy tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a diseased tree bear good fruit.

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The evidence here for whether a prophet is for real or not is simple, whether their life matches up or not. If it does not then they are likely believing words from a false spirit or simply copying someone else words from God without actually hearing from God themselves and therefore may be giving a false message.

Jesus did encourage us to avoid criticism of others at times but throughout his teachings in numerous places he clearly encourages all of us to inspect each others fruit!

-This inspection of each others life isn’t simply to point out bad fruit as that is only a result of a bad root. We have been the last few months talking about the good root and our goal is that we may keep assessing our roots and also be able to connect others to the good root. As we study fruit we must always ask:

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Colossians 1:10 ESV

so as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him: bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God;

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“what is the root behind this fruit”

:“what is the root behind this fruit”

What does the Bible mean by “Fruit”

Lets just come up with our own definition of fruit first and what we think of:

Apples, Bananas, Cantaloupe, Strawberries

Things fruits all have their specific trees or seeds that grow and when healthy produce these fruits that are simply more seed holders that then can be dropped and go on to produce more plants and more fruit and more seeds. When everything is heathly the good plant keeps spreading itself.

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This is a process very familiar to anyone at anytime in history. For this reason Jesus picks up the universally known idea and tells that He is the root or the healthy sustenance for the plant. We are the plant that when we get our nutrients from Him, fruit will grow from us and drop seeds around us.

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When we do not have the right roots we end up with a sick plant.

ex. The avocado tree in my back yard. I have had that tree for nearly 8 years before I actually saw it bear fruit. It was a useless tree until finally my neighbor pointed out that it was sick as evidenced by its branches. So we cut off the sick branches and what do you know that next season it grew us nearly 15 gigantic avocados.

The lack of fruit was evidence that the tree was unhealthy and needed to be cleansed. When it was healthy it generated fruit!

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So Fruit is the evidence of a healthy plant and creates more growth. The Bible uses this analogy to show that our works are fruit of being rooted in Jesus.

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In other words, the way we act is a visible representation of what is happening inside of us. Our actions will never change us internally but when we are changed internally our external actions will reflect that.

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Below we see that we bear fruit or the results in our good works come from a desire to please Jesus

5 I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.

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The point of this night is for us to make the connection between our rooted series on who Jesus really is for us to be grounded in the real Jesus. Then because we are grounded in who he is we can remain in the real Jesus, we can know his likes and dislikes, and we can let His will reign in our lives.

33 “Either make the tree good and its fruit good, or make the tree bad and its fruit bad, for the tree is known by its fruit.

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When we bear the fruit of love for each other, everyone will be able to see that you are connected to the healthy root! We will know it is real in you!

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The Root comes first, then the fruit.

We can’t stop at the root, the fruit of the root is such a natural by product that it is inescapable. Therefore we will transition into the second half of the foundations for this new ministry. Obedience and change must be a part of our lives and the lives of those who come along side us to join with Jesus in building His kingdom on earth.

22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. 24 And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires

We will study this topic further but off the top of your head, what are the first three things that come to mind as fruit (the natural product)

of being a follower of Jesus?

What do you think about when you see someone who says they are a follower of Jesus but none of their decisions reflect that they believe Jesus is real, he is powerful, or that he is coming back.